It is the Centre for Appropriate Technology Limited (CfAT Ltd)’s experience that Aboriginal people living in remote communities are keen to work.They hold a range of practical skills and knowledge developed over years of station and other seasonal work as well as those developed through the type of DIY activities living in the bush requires.

They don’t often have the suite of licenses and accreditation employers often look for, and doing paperwork and getting transport to a job site can be a challenge. However these issues can be accommodated through somepre-planning of work tasks and schedules and combining appropriate supervision with training on the job.

Over the past year CfAT Ltd has delivered ‘fix and make safe projects’ focused on housing, water supplies and energy access in remote regions in the NT – the Utopia Homelands and the Layhnapuy and Marngarr Homelands in the NE Arnhem region – in partnership with local Aboriginal organisations. Whilst there were differences in the focus and scheduling of works in each of the projects, CfAT Ltd was committed to maximising local employment in each project.

Over the one year project, 162 Yolngu people were employed and worked a total of more than 15 263 hours.